tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53954834685053467572018-03-05T17:50:56.501-08:00BitcoinProfit24Sebastian Thielnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5395483468505346757.post-82276479370073454672016-08-15T09:17:00.000-07:002017-08-23T08:06:41.666-07:00New KnCMiner Owners Seek to Revive Bitcoin Firm With Acquisition<p>A preliminary sale that would find bitcoin mining firm KnCMiner continuing under new ownership has been approved, according to those close to the deal.</p><p>Speaking to CoinDesk, court-appointed receiver Nils Åberg today confirmed that a sales agreement was reached on Friday with a Swedish firm called GoGreenLight.&nbsp;Founded for the purpose of completing the acquisition, GoGreenLight is a new sister company to <a href="https://www.borderlight.net/">Borderlight</a>, an Uppsala-based IT and telecom firm <a href="http://listings.findthecompany.com/l/269351021/Borderlight-Ab-in-Uppsala-Sweden">founded in 2000</a>.</p><p>Notably, Borderlight's Sten Oscarsson said that GoGreenLight could continue to operate KnC's bitcoin mining pool and data centers once it assumes leadership.</p><p>Oscarsson told CoinDesk:</p><blockquote><p>"We will run the mining to the extent that it is profitable, but in addition to our core business. We have a strategy to solve their current problems. It’s most likely the case that we’ll be a player."</p></blockquote><p>Oscarsson said his firm is aware of the struggles KnCMiner had in adapting&nbsp;its model from one focused on direct-to-consumer sales to one focused on industrial mining, but that it could acquire talent as part of the deal.</p><p>"It was one of the few operations that had successfully competed on the world market," he continued.</p><p>While GoGreenLight is in discussions to hire members of the KnC team, no previous owners are involved with the acquiring firm, he added.</p><p>The developments follow an update from Åberg in July in which he suggested KnCMiner, which entered bankruptcy <a href="/kncminer-declares-bankruptcy-cites-upcoming-bitcoin-subsidy-halving/">in May</a>, was considering multiple buyers.</p><p>However, he indicated the GoGreenLight team provided the most compelling of all proposals.</p><p>"This was the best alternative for the estate and the creditors," Åberg said.</p><p>Åberg further said that "additional considerations" needed to be finalized before the sale was properly concluded.</p><p><em>Image via KnCMiner</em>Sebastian Thielnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5395483468505346757.post-6811455694903362992016-04-06T08:38:00.001-07:002017-05-13T04:15:17.762-07:00Regulation a Doubled-Edged Sword for Blockchain Clearing and SettlementWilliam Mougayar is a Toronto-based entrepreneur, Ethereum Foundation advisor&nbsp;and advisor to Consensus 2016, CoinDesk's flagship conference. He is also the author of the upcoming book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wmougayar/the-business-blockchain-books" target="_blank">The Business Blockchain</a>.</em></p><p><em>In this feature, Mougayar explores how blockchain could shift the world's regulatory landscape for financial institutions, weighing some of the factors that will impact how governments and regulators interact with the technology.&nbsp;</em></p><p><a href="http://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-233235"><img class="aligncenter size-article-full wp-image-233235" src="https://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz-728x500.jpg" alt="Bankz" srcset="http://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz-768x528.jpg 768w, http://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz-170x117.jpg 170w, http://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz-728x500.jpg 728w, http://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz-115x79.jpg 115w, http://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz-348x239.jpg 348w, http://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz-195x134.jpg 195w, http://media.coindesk.com/2016/04/Bankz.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" height="500" width="728"></a>Let's start with a fact. Interbank settlement takes days to clear because of regulation and a multi-party intermediary infrastructure.</p><p>This is also&nbsp;commonly accepted as a challenge the blockchain could help solve. Every segment of&nbsp;the global capital markets ecosystem today is&nbsp;getting ready for some type of leap&nbsp;to address friction in the settlement lifecycle.</p><p>Some of the applications being looked at today include:</p><ul><li>Bonds</li><li>Collateral management</li><li>Commodities</li><li>Derivatives</li><li>Over-the-counter (OTC) markets</li><li>Swaps</li><li>Syndicated loans</li><li>The repurchase market</li><li>Unregistered/registered securities</li><li>Warehouse receipts<span style="line-height: 1.5;">.</span></li></ul><p>Whether via lip service or real work, most stakeholders and participants providing these market functions have declared an&nbsp;interest in blockchain tech.</p><p>Yet&nbsp;some questions about their approach remain. For example, while we've heard about a range of big bank blockchain trials, we've yet to see their real-world impact.</p><p>Without this, we have to ask: Are we talking real disruption, or are we going to improve things by a little? Further,&nbsp;what is the role of regulation in lubricating this next evolution?</p><h2>Seeking answers</h2><p>The variety of financial services regulatory authorities around the world might rival&nbsp;the number of ice cream flavor varieties. More than 200&nbsp;such bodies exist in 150 countries, and many of them have been eyeing the blockchain and exploring how to go about updating&nbsp;their rules to account for the technology.</p><p>Imagine if each one of these bodies issued their own type of blockchain regulations, without coordination, or without due consideration for the full implications of such policies. Not only would a mess ensue, but potentially, the blockchain technology industry might wind up shackled as a result of the resulting regulatory confusion.</p><p>The Commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), J Christopher Giancarlo underscored that specific point <a href="/cftc-commissioner-revisit-rules-distributed-ledgers/" target="_blank">during a speech</a> he made on 29th March at <a href="/dtcc-blockchain-symposium-12-quotes/" target="_blank">a conference</a> organized by the Depository Trust &amp; Clearing Corporation (DTCC).</p><p>He said:</p><blockquote><p>“Yet, this investment faces the danger that when regulation does come, it will come from a dozen different directions with different restrictions stifling crucial technological development before it reaches fruition.”</p></blockquote><p>When the Internet arrived, governments and policy makers were smart enough to not regulate it too early – a choice that contributed to its long-term growth. The reality facing financial services institutions is that, once again, they will be at the mercy of the regulators when it comes to blockchain tech.</p><p>Some vexing situations could arise if regulations don’t keep up with technology or social developments. Look at the case of Uber fighting 50-year-old&nbsp;regulations geared toward taxi cartels, or the difficulty in updating&nbsp;regulations against&nbsp;telecommunication&nbsp;industry monopolies.</p><p>Banks are between a rock and a hard place.&nbsp;Blockchains&nbsp;are worldwide, but much of the current regulatory climate today&nbsp;has forced innovators&nbsp;to focus on serving local needs rather than global ones.</p><h2>Legalizing blockchain transactions</h2><p>Regulation has offered a degree of protection&nbsp;– but it could also be the blockchain's&nbsp;undoing.</p><p>In order for&nbsp;blockchain-based business interactions to achieve widespread use, transactions processed on blockchain will need to be recognized as legally binding and acceptable within existing compliance requirements.</p><p>This might involve revisiting recordkeeping rules, or at least ensuring that new regulation does not specifically prevent institutions from using the blockchain to run these kinds of transactions.</p><p>At the very&nbsp;least, rules should be put in place that allow them to experiment with that technology and continue showcasing new capabilities – learning&nbsp;where they&nbsp;can lead.</p><p>You can already see examples of this in various jurisdictions looking at creating so-called "sandboxes" for innovation.</p><h2>A&nbsp;better inter-banking network?</h2><p>Each financial institution has its own proprietary systems, and each is required to use private networks they either own or control to move money in their possession. This mesh of complexity is certainly not helpful for clearing&nbsp;transactions quickly.</p><p>By way of&nbsp;its powerful vision of a single ledger, blockchain tech is questioning if financial institutions can continue depending on proprietary systems that silo them off from one another. The prospect of a more homogeneous – but also more&nbsp;transparent&nbsp;– audit trail of global transactions could offer unique insights and lower risks.</p><p>The litmus test is to run transactions without a central intermediary in the middle.</p><p>Verifying identity and validating counterparties can be done in a peer-to-peer manner on the blockchain, and that is the preferred method that organizations should be trying to perfect. Already, several blockchain trials&nbsp;and proofs-of-concept have demonstrated this capability.</p><p>Can the financial services industry cut the intermediary umbilical cord and favor peer-to-peer transactions, while at the same time recording all activity in a way that satisfies regulators?&nbsp;Technically, the answer is yes. But here is the dilemma: Banks don’t want to change banking.</p><p>Rather, startups want to change banking. And if blockchain can alter&nbsp;the way these institutions interact, reconciling these positions will be interesting to watch.</p><p><em>These issues and subjects will be discussed during an upcoming panel session at <a href="http://www.coindesk.com/events/consensus-2016/">Consensus 2016</a>.</em></p><p><em><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-302406635/stock-vector-thin-line-flat-design-of-online-banking-account-secure-money-transaction-computer-access-for.html" target="_blank">Settlement image</a> via Shutterstock</em>Sebastian Thielnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5395483468505346757.post-33189803261999652632015-12-03T09:29:00.000-08:002015-12-03T09:29:59.883-08:00Exclusive Interview with the Media Division Manager of 1Broker<img src="/images/1broker_article_cover_NewsBTC-825x510.jpg" class="single_feature_img" alt=""> <p style="text-align: justify;">Recently, bitcoin has been drawing the attention of many companies around the world including <a href="http://www.newsbtc.com/2015/11/06/trading-forex-in-bitcoin-is-it-the-geekiest-way-to-make-money-online/">Forex and CFD Brokers</a>. The rise of bitcoin trading has created a multi-billion dollar industry that allows cryptocurrency enthusiasts to buy or sell digital currencies across various exchange platforms.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Now, several brokers are introducing bitcoin as part of their trading services. Forex is&nbsp; the market with the biggest volume and liquidity all over the world. Forex markets are said to witness a daily volume of trillions of USD. For Bitcoin, it presents a whole new market with many trading opportunities.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://1broker.com/">1Broker</a> is a&nbsp;platform that allows Bitcoin users to invest in CFDs with their bitcoin. The platform allows Bitcoin users to participate in real-world markets directly by using their Bitcoins. 1Broker currently allows traders to invest on 44 selected commodities, stock, indices and Forex pairs. 1Broker has taken the digital currency approach to a whole new level and only allows deposits and withdrawals to be made via Bitcoin.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The underlying contracts that users trade on 1Broker&nbsp;are called CFDs. This type of derivative allows 1Broker to peg&nbsp;its markets directly to the underlying markets\assets with top transparency and maximum simplicity for any type of trader.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">To know more about 1Broker and the Forex-Crypto Market industry, <a href="http://www.newsbtc.com/" target="_blank">NewsBTC</a> was able to reach out to the company’s Media Division Manager and ask him some questions:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NewsBTC – Can you tell us a bit about the company, and its goals and history?</strong></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1Broker – </strong>1Broker was launched in late 2012 after around 12 months of planning and development. From the beginning, our main focus was to allow Bitcoin holders to participate in global markets. Back then, we only offered trading on a few markets and had an extremely limited platform, but over the past few years we have continually improved our software and constantly added new features. Currently, there is still a lot of room for improvement and our focus for development is on a new, and innovative front-end, which is scheduled to be released in early 2016. Our long-term goal is to compete with our “traditional” competitors, which usually do not accept Bitcoin (yet).</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NewsBTC – Can you tell us a bit about the platform and how it works?</strong></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1Broker – </strong>Before launching our platform we analyzed several business models of how we could implement our ideas. We decided to offer CFDs as our primary product for the several reasons:</p></blockquote><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><blockquote><p>We could offer high liquidity and fast order executions from the beginning.</p></blockquote></li><li><blockquote><p>All fees could be integrated transparently in the spreads.</p></blockquote></li><li><blockquote><p>Unlike other products, positions do not expire.</p></blockquote></li><li><blockquote><p>Markets are pegged to their underlyings (unlike options for example), which leads to an extremely transparent and straightforward trading experience.</p></blockquote></li></ul><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">A trade on our platform is basically a contract between us and the trader, where we agree to pay the “difference” specified by the profit/loss formula. In the background, there are a lot of other things going on, but we managed to completely abstract that away from the trader.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NewsBTC – Why did you decide to make bitcoin the only deposit option on your platform?<br></strong></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1Broker – </strong>1Broker was solely created for Bitcoin holders. The main reason was, that there simply were no others platforms offering a similar service. We saw this as an opportunity to gain a first-to-market advantage.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NewsBTC – I see you have integrated Crypto Markets on the platform. For now, you only have the BTC/USD pair. Will you be integrating more crypto pairs shortly?</strong></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1Broker – </strong>Offering CFDs on illiquid and volatile markets is extremely difficult, and for that reason we currently have no plans to add other crypto pairs in the near future.<em><br></em></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NewsBTC – What is the source for your charts and price indicators?</strong></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><br></strong><br><strong>1Broker – </strong>It depends on the market. For <a href="http://www.newsbtc.com/2015/09/09/forex-brokers-allowing-btcusd-trades/" target="_blank">BTC/USD</a>, we use a non-volume-weighted average of Bitstamp, itBit and Coinbase. For our forex markets, we use several data streams redundantly. For more detailed information, people can contact us.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NewsBTC – How do you see the influence of cryptocurrency on the Forex Broker industry?</strong></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1Broker – </strong>It heavily depends on how the cryptocurrencies will develop, and the adoption rates to follow. Currently, it is still an extremely small market and mainly used by tech-savvy enthusiasts. However, in the last year we noticed a significant increase of traders who live in underdeveloped countries and have no access to a bank accounts or services, so they often use cryptocurrencies to circumvent this problem.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NewsBTC – What’s your expectations for the crypto market?</strong></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1Broker – </strong>I expect that&nbsp;the cryptocurrency markets will continue to see accelerated growth both in volume and transaction rates. However, I doubt that they will replace traditional currencies or banking systems in the foreseeable future. The influence and power of existing governments and institutions is simply too high, and they wouldn’t stand by while they were replaced. Which brings me to next point –&nbsp;If leading governments formally ban digital currencies, it could really have a negative impact. Fortunately, many countries that are beginning to regulate cryptocurrencies are taking an open-minded, and exploratory approach, which is more or less a good sign.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>NewsBTC – What’s your opinion on the current situation of bitcoin and digital currencies?</strong></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><br></strong><br><strong>1Broker – </strong>Bitcoin is slowly leaving its early stages of development and many powerful organisations and people are trying to influence the development of the protocol. (i.e. block size debate) It’s impossible to accurately predict what the long-term future will look like. There are so many possibilities that could unfold: From a new digital currency replacing Bitcoin, to consensus-based updates of the current rules.<br>However, the ideas and technology of a distributed ledger and all its potential use cases are certainly here to stay, and in my opinion the proof-of-work based algorithms (which secure the Bitcoin network) are one of the most important inventions in applied computer science.</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Images: <a href="https://1broker.com/" target="_blank">1Broker</a></em></p> <a href="http://www.newsbtc.com">Source</a>Sebastian Thielnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5395483468505346757.post-57380827252017295842015-12-01T07:31:00.000-08:002015-12-02T06:06:02.505-08:00Russia's Finance Ministry Wants to Ban Bitcoin, Not the Blockchain<div class="picture featured"><img alt="russia flag" class=" wp-post-image" src="http://media.coindesk.com/2015/11/russia-flag-600x370.jpg" height="185" width="300"> </div><p class="p2">Though bitcoin regulation remains a divisive topic globally, there's perhaps no country that has kept the international bitcoin community guessing about the digital currency's future more than Russia.</p><p class="p2">For more than a year, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the nation's economic lawmaking body, has been repeatedly and staunchly&nbsp;against allowing its use as an alternative to government-issued money. Just last month, for example, deputy finance minister Alexey Moiseev<strong>&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://www.coindesk.com/russian-minister-confirms-plans-to-ban-bitcoin-to-fiat-conversions/">told CoinDesk</a>&nbsp;that the Ministry was working on a draft law that would seek to punish those converting cryptocurrencies into the ruble with up to four years in prison.</p><p class="p2">Outside of these statements, however, the agency's&nbsp;opinion on bitcoin as a financial technology has been less clear.</p><p class="p2">Speaking to CoinDesk, Moiseev said that his office was dealing with bitcoin and its underlying technology in different ways:</p><blockquote><p>"We feel that blockchain technology is very important in the development of various Internet-based services."</p></blockquote><p>Nonetheless,&nbsp;Moiseev remained vocal about the dangers of bitcoin as a means for facilitating payments, though his comments displayed a less aggressive stance than has been outwardly projected by his agency.</p><p>"We appreciate the potential relevance of blockchain technology for the development of e-commerce and therefore we feel that it should be allowed and developed, but bitcoin themselves, in particular, the implementation of the bitcoin transactions into the real economy, in the real banking system can be very dangerous," he concluded.</p><p>Moiseev also elaborated on the reasons the Ministry of Finance believes new rules are necessary, citing&nbsp;the digital currency's association with money laundering and terrorism financing. But while&nbsp;Russia may be looking to potentially criminalise bitcoin-to-fiat conversions, Moiseev said that he did not perceive bitcoin to be a threat to Russia's national currency.</p><h2>Bitcoin and terrorism</h2><p>Since its emergence government regulators have struggled to determine how best to regulate digital currencies, and whether new laws need to be applied to businesses using the technology.</p><p>New York, for example, introduced unique state law governing its use, but despite its early movement on this issue, other US states have largely sought to update or apply past statutes to cover the technology.</p><p>Of the government organizations that have issued comments on digital currency, many are concerned about that&nbsp;the payment method is being used by cybercriminals, the evidence of which has encouraged fears bitcoin could be leveraged by terrorists, a view that has been given new attention in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Paris.</p><p>The topic of terrorism is clearly on&nbsp;Moiseev's mind as well, as the deputy finance minister expressed concerns about bitcoin potentially making the country's financial system more vulnerable to exploitation:</p><blockquote><p>"We are very concerned about the potential developments there as&nbsp;we have built&nbsp;serious system of protection against money laundering and financing terrorism using conventional banking system. We are quite afraid of opening this window up by allowing a free convertibility of bitcoins into rubles and back."</p></blockquote><p>He then went one step further, noting that Russia was monitoring how bitcoin was being regulated by its contemporaries in both Europe and elsewhere.</p><p>"We are looking at how bitcoins are being regulated, how they are being protected from potential abuse by money launderers and terrorists," he added.</p><h2 class="p2">Crypto in Russia</h2><p class="p2">Despite adding clarity to the conversation, Moissev's comments don't successfully foretell how the technology will be regulated in Russia.</p><p class="p2">Russia's central bank has indicated it is against measures that would outlaw its use, and the organization's view was supported by President&nbsp;Vladimir Putin when he discussed&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5;">digital currencies for the first time in July this year.</span></p><p class="p2">At the time, Putin&nbsp;backed the Bank of Russia's advocacy&nbsp;for the technology but&nbsp;also implied that&nbsp;bitcoin is "backed by nothing", and thus might require special oversight.</p><p class="p2">Although bitcoin's future remains uncertain in Russia, it is perhaps safe to say that crypto enthusiasts can remain at ease at least for now. The draft law – which would criminalise bitcoin conversions – pursued by the Ministry of Finance is being reviewed by the Cabinet, a process which is expected to take a few months, and will then have to be submitted to the country's Parliament for final approval.</p><p class="p2"><em>For a more detailed look at bitcoin's history in Russia check out our <a href="http://www.coindesk.com/timeline-putin-adds-to-bitcoins-rocky-history-in-russia/">interactive timeline</a>.</em></p><p class="p2"><em><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-218892142/stock-photo-architectural-detail-of-hermitage-in-st-petersburg-with-russian-flag.html?src=YKwrMUv8MYWEdtsR-OlxcQ-1-0" target="_blank">Russia flag image via Shutterstock</a></em></p> <a href="http://www.coindesk.com/">Source</a>Sebastian Thielnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5395483468505346757.post-48206345107764914682015-09-09T13:55:00.001-07:002015-12-02T05:43:15.843-08:00How To Earn Bitcoin: 10 Ways & 101 WebsitesToday there are almost as many ways to earn <a class="glossaryLink " data-tooltip="Bitcoin is a digital currency and electronic payment system combined into a single package. It uses a 'peer-to-peer' network, meaning that users can make payments directly to each other, without the need to go through intermediaries such as banks or credit card companies. New coins are also issued by the network itself, without the need for a central issuing authority such as a bank." href="http://cryptorials.io/glossary/bitcoin/" title="Glossary: Bitcoin">bitcoin</a> as there are ways to earn any other kind of money. In one sense that makes this an easy article to write – its not difficult to learn how to earn bitcoins. In other ways it makes it very tough to write, because there is no ‘one-size fits all’ answer which is going to suite everybody who might end up on this page. <br />In all honesty the best way to earn bitcoin is just to stop thinking about it as something different from the regular fiat money that you use everyday. How do you get money usually? Well, that is probably how you should go about earning <a class="glossaryLink " data-tooltip="The term 'digital currency' refers to any currency which exists primarily or solely in digital rather than physical form." href="http://cryptorials.io/glossary/digital-currency/" title="Glossary: Digital Currency">digital currency</a> as well.&nbsp; But of course I do realize that its not always that simple. Perhaps you just want to get hold of a small amount of Bitcoin to try it out before buying some. You may also be struggling to earn money at all, and are interested in exploring new opportunities within this exciting new economy, or using it to supplement your income. And, of course,not very many bosses are going to be happy to pay you in BTC, so you may not think it is possible for you to earn bitcoin the same way you earn fiat money (hint: it is possible). If any of those scenarios apply to you, then hopefully this page can be of some help, at least pointing you in the right direction.<br />Because there are so many different opportunities out there, my guide on how to earn bitcoin will not provide a comprehensive list of every single website. Instead I will introduce you to around 10 general strategies with some links to a few of the best websites for each one and information about how to find more. The 101 websites from the title includes sites listed in other Cryptorials articles which this page links to.<br /> <br /><h2>Earn Bitcoins From Faucet Websites</h2>If you are just looking for a quick and easy way to get a small amount of bitcoin then faucets might be exactly what you are looking for. A <a class="glossaryLink " data-tooltip="A faucet is the name given to any website or app which gives away free bitcoin or alt coins. " href="http://cryptorials.io/glossary/faucet/" title="Glossary: Faucet">faucet</a> is just a website which gives free coins to every visitor. You will have to fill out a captcha to prove you are a real life human being and not an automated bot trying to game the system, you may need to let your balance build up to a threshold level before the coins are sent (so they aren’t all eaten up by transaction fees), and there will usually be a limit on how often you can claim from each site; but apart from that its just as simple as providing your <a class="glossaryLink " data-tooltip="The term 'wallet' is used in Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, for any software which the end-users uses to interact with the Bitcoin network, for example to make a payment or sign a message with their address." href="http://cryptorials.io/glossary/wallet/" title="Glossary: Wallet">wallet</a> address and asking for some free coins to be sent to you. Some of these site are set up by enthusiasts who just want to introduce new people to digital currency, but today most faucets support themselves using advertising placed on the site.<br />You are certainly not going to earn a living using faucets – even if you are living in a basic wooden hut in the very cheapest location in the world you would probably not be able to do that. But you can quickly and easily get a few coins to get yourself started and make a test transaction or two to get familiar with using digital currency without needing to buy any coins.<br />Here are some of the best faucet websites:<br /><ol><li><a href="http://bitcoinzebra.com/?ref=26475d625004" target="_blank">Bitcoin Zebra</a> – Claim every hour and get one of the highest payouts available from a faucet</li><li><a href="http://moonbit.co.in/?ref=795c14ab10c3" target="_blank">Moon Bitcoin</a> – You can choose to claim every 5 minutes to maximize your earnings over the day, or claim once per day for the highest payout per claim.</li><li><a href="https://freebitco.in/?r=1095727" target="_blank">FreeBitco.in</a> – One of the longest running faucet sites around, with a generous hourly payout.</li><li><a href="http://www.weekendbitcoin.com/?ref=65459" target="_blank">Weekend Bitcoin</a> –&nbsp; Regularly offers extra money for claims over the weekend</li><li><a href="http://bitcoin.cryptorials.io/" target="_blank">Bitcoin Cryptorials</a> – Yes, we have our own faucet here at Cryptorials!</li></ol><h2>GPT Websites and ‘Microtasks’</h2>One step up from faucets are GPT websites where you ‘get paid to’ do various quick tasks, sometimes called ‘microtasks’. Again, you are not going to make a decent living for yourself by using these websites, but if you have time on your hands and you are looking for something you can start straight away and continue to do whenever you have a few spare minutes, and which will earn you a few more coins that you can get from just claiming from faucets, then these sites may be worth a look.<br />Typically tasks can range from watching youtube videos that somebody is paying to promote, to clicking ad links and spending 30 seconds on a website, to filling out surveys and completing offers, or even doing a little bit of basic data entry.<br />Here are some of the best sites to ‘get paid to’ do simple tasks:<br /><ol><li><a href="https://coinbucks.io/?r=23661" target="_blank">CoinBucks</a> – A wide range of surveys as well as various promotional offers, some of which require you to make a purchase and some of which just want you to do things like accept a free 30 day trial or download some free software. You may not find a lot of offers you want to complete, but you do get a really good amount of BTC per offer.</li><li><a href="https://coinad.com/?r=TYUXBSTCBPP5I8T" target="_blank">CoinAd</a> – Get paid to click advert links and spend a certain amount of time on each site (usually 30 seconds or less). I’ve tested out a few similar services and this one seems to have the highest payments.</li><li><a href="https://bitcoinyellowpages.com/earn-bitcoins-become-a-power-lister/" target="_blank">BitcoinYellowPages</a> – This directory service pays for the microtask of submitting business listings. If you can do a little bit of research and data entry then it might be worth a look.</li></ol><h2>Earn Bitcoins as a Content Producer</h2>If you can create premium digital content then you will find that Bitcoin provides the perfect way for you to sell it over the internet.<br /><ol><li data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fbittit.info%2Fupload.php"><a href="https://bittit.info/upload.php" target="_blank">Bittit</a> – If you have photographs or other images to sell then you could do worse than to take a look at this site, which provides a market for both stock photos and pornographic images.</li><li data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fbittit.info%2Fupload.php"><a href="http://www.watchmybit.com/" target="_blank">Watch My Bit</a> – Upload your videos to this site and select your own ‘pay per view’ price.</li><li data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fbittit.info%2Fupload.php"><a href="https://streamium.io/" target="_blank">Streamium</a> – Stream live video to your fans, charge per second, and get paid directly via the <a class="glossaryLink " data-tooltip="A blockchain is an historical record of all the transactions which have ever taken place within a cryptocurrency network.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The term blockchain is derived from the two English words 'block' and 'chain'. An individual 'block' refers to all of the transactions which have taken place within a fixed period of time. Each block contains information to identify its immediate predecessor, which therefore links all of the blocks together into a long 'chain' going back to the network's very first transaction." href="http://cryptorials.io/glossary/blockchain/" title="Glossary: Blockchain">blockchain</a> with no middlemen.</li><li data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fbittit.info%2Fupload.php"><a href="https://www.pastecoin.com/" target="_blank">Pastecoin</a> – You can sell any text paste with this service, but it is most commonly used as a market for code snippets and simple website scripts.</li></ol><h2>Make A Website to Earn Bitcoin</h2>Of course if you are going to produce digital content then you may prefer to create your own website rather than allowing somebody else to publish it for you. There are loads of great ad networks and affiliate programs that will help you to generate bitcoin revenue from your site. Take a look at these articles for more information and ideas about publishing your own website:<br /><ol><li><a href="http://cryptorials.io/earn-bitcoin-blogging/">Earn Bitcoin by Blogging</a></li><li><a href="http://cryptorials.io/how-to-make-your-own-bitcoin-faucet/">Make Your Own Faucet site</a></li><li><a href="http://cryptorials.io/20-best-bitcoin-referral-programs/">The Best Bitcoin Affiliate Programs</a></li></ol><h2>Earn Bitcoins on Social Media</h2>You don’t even need to have your own website to start generating an income – if you are have a strong social media presence or you fancy yourself as a bit of a marketing guru, you can earn some free coins through social media. Here are some of the best websites that may help you do that:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://changetip.com/" target="_blank">Changetip</a> – This is the most popular platform for tipping across many different social media sites, and even provides you with a custom link that you can add to your profile page to receive tips. Post great content,&nbsp; make yourself useful, and wait for the tips to start rolling in.</li><li><a href="https://coinurl.com/index.php?ref=977c26dfbeba624f44521c1c9f5ed617" target="_blank">Coinurl.com</a> – If you are a prolific link sharer who gets a lot of clicks on everything you share then interstitial ad services like Coinurl offer you a way to earn coins from every link you share with your followers by placing an ad before the content you are sharing.</li><li><span class="char" data-decimal="8679" data-entity="&amp;#8679;" data-id="43237" title="Upwards White Arrow">⇧</span><span class="char" data-decimal="8679" data-entity="&amp;#8679;" data-id="43237" title="Upwards White Arrow">⇧</span><span class="char" data-decimal="8679" data-entity="&amp;#8679;" data-id="43237" title="Upwards White Arrow">⇧</span><span class="char" data-decimal="8679" data-entity="&amp;#8679;" data-id="43237" title="Upwards White Arrow">⇧</span><span class="char" data-decimal="8679" data-entity="&amp;#8679;" data-id="43237" title="Upwards White Arrow">⇧</span><span class="char" data-decimal="8679" data-entity="&amp;#8679;" data-id="43237" title="Upwards White Arrow">⇧</span><span class="char" data-decimal="8679" data-entity="&amp;#8679;" data-id="43237" title="Upwards White Arrow">⇧</span><span class="char" data-decimal="8679" data-entity="&amp;#8679;" data-id="43237" title="Upwards White Arrow">⇧</span> – Check out the referral / affiliate programs mentioned in the previous section – you can promote these and earn using social media too!</li><li><a href="http://re.2et.in/" target="_blank">Re 2et in</a> – Get paid in BTC for retweeting sponsored tweets.</li></ul><h2>Get A Job Which Pays in Bitcoin</h2><ol><li><a href="https://coinality.com/" target="_blank">Coinality</a> -Global jobs board and the option to upload your resume</li><li><a href="http://bittask.com/" target="_blank">Bit Task</a> – Mostly freelance work</li><li><a href="http://jobs.coindesk.com/" target="_blank">CoinDesk Jobs</a> – Well paid full time positions, including listings from some major employers who are willing to pay you in BTC.</li><li><a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=52.0" target="_blank">BitcoinTalk Services Board</a> – A great place to look for casual and freelance work within the digital currency industry.</li></ol><h2>Get Your Regular Wage in BTC</h2>If you have a job then you can get paid in Bitcoin. It doesn’t even matter if your boss has never heard of <a class="glossaryLink " data-tooltip="Cryptocurrency is a modern form of digital money. It uses cryptographic techniques to replace the need for a central issuing authority with a network or peers who are able to perform the same functions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The first successful cryptocurrency was Bitcoin, and since then many new cryptocurrencies have been successfully launched." href="http://cryptorials.io/glossary/cryptocurrency/" title="Glossary: Cryptocurrency">cryptocurrency</a> or even if they are a strident critic of it – you can get your regular wage paid to you in digital currency without your boss even knowing about it. The following services will take your paycheck and either convert the whole thing, or just convert a portion of it, and automatically send the coins to your digital wallet.<br /><ol><li><a href="https://www.bitwage.com/" target="_blank">BitWage</a> – This is the best known company providing a service like this. They provide you with bank details to give to your employer, then when you get paid they convert whatever percentage you want and send your money to you the next day.</li><li><a href="http://www.getpaidinbitcoin.com.au/" target="_blank">Get Paid in Bitcoin</a> – An Australian service provider which will work with your employer to let them easily pay your wage the way you want it to be paid.</li></ol><h2>Sell Stuff</h2>If you are looking for some spare cash to provide a one-off boost to your finances then digging through your old stuff and picking out a few things that you no longer need to sell on over the internet is a good way to go. But of course you can’t just go to eBay if you want to sell your stuff for BTC. Fortunately, there are some great alternatives out there which let you do exactly that. This may also be a great way for&nbsp; you to start off your own business if have something that people want to buy. Here are some of the best sites to earn bitcoin by selling stuff online:<br /><ol><li data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fopenbazaar.org%2F"><a href="https://cryptothrift.com/" target="_blank">CryptoThrift</a> – This site is amongst the most popular auctions sites which let you sell your things for either bitcoin or one of the supported altcoins.</li><li data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fopenbazaar.org%2F"><a href="https://bidbit.co/" target="_blank">BidBit</a> – Another great ebay-style auction website for bitcoiners.</li><li data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fopenbazaar.org%2F"><a href="http://shopify.com/" target="_blank">Shopify</a> – If you want to go beyond just selling a few old things and actually look into setting up your own retail business then Shopify provides one of the world’s most popular ways to set up an online store, and will let you sell for either bitcoin, fiat, or both.</li><li data-wpview-marker="https%3A%2F%2Fopenbazaar.org%2F"><a href="https://openbazaar.org/" target="_blank">Open Bazaar</a> – This <a class="glossaryLink " data-tooltip="A decentralized marketplace provides a way for its users to trade directly with each other using a peer-to-peer network. There is no central website or other retail location. Instead, there is a distributed public network run by its users, over which listings and offers are broadcast and trades are completed." href="http://cryptorials.io/glossary/decentralized-marketplace/" title="Glossary: Decentralized Marketplace">decentralized marketplace</a> provides a way to buy and sell anything for BTC. Here’s why its <a href="http://cryptorials.io/decentralized-marketplaces-the-best-alternative-to-ebay-amazon/" target="_blank">better than eBay</a>.</li></ol><h2>Bitcoin Revenue Sharing</h2>Many website today are based around ‘user generated content’. That means they provide a platform, whether its a social network, a blog publishing site, an image sharing site, or a thousand other things, and their users actually fill it up with useful stuff. To many people that doesn’t seem very fair, because the site’s users are providing most of the value but getting nothing in return. Revenue sharing is a way to even out that imbalance by paying part of the advertising revenue generated by a piece of content (which could be anything from a social media post to a video) o the person who originally posted it. There are loads of revenue sharing sites out there which pay in bitcoin, but here is a selection of the best ones:<br /><ol><li><a href="http://www.bitlanders.com/" target="_blank">BitLanders</a> – A social media website where it really does pay to share.</li><li><a href="http://paste4btc.com/" target="_blank">Paste4BTC</a> – Get a share of the ad revenue from your text pastes.</li><li><a href="http://www.taringa.net/" target="_blank">Taringa</a> – A Latin American social media site with digital currency revenue sharing</li></ol><h2>Earn Bitcoins Playing Video Games</h2>Yes, you read that right – you can get paid to play video games. Of course you probably aren’t going to earn all that much, but I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to get paid.<br />There are actually dozens of sites in this category so if you are interested please take a look at the full list in our <a href="http://cryptorials.io/earn-bitcoin-playing-fun-games-no-deposit-needed/" target="_blank">Get Paid to Play Video Games</a> article!<br /><h2 data-wpview-marker="http%3A%2F%2Fgetgems">Section 11 – Other Stuff</h2><ul><li data-wpview-marker="http%3A%2F%2Fgetgems"><a href="http://coinbycall.com/" target="_blank">CoinByCall</a> – This service fascinates me, but doesn’t work in every country which unfortunately means I haven’t been able to test it. If you have any free minutes on your call plan this company can use them, and will pay you by the minute for letting them do so.</li></ul>Sebastian Thielnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5395483468505346757.post-81464381038848682012015-09-09T13:32:00.001-07:002017-05-13T04:17:09.088-07:00How To Short Bitcoin: 5 Ways To Profit From a Falling BTC PriceThe price of any currency or asset goes both up and down over time – and <a href="http://cryptorials.io/glossary/bitcoin/" title="Glossary: Bitcoin" data-tooltip="Bitcoin is a digital currency and electronic payment system combined into a single package. It uses a 'peer-to-peer' network, meaning that users can make payments directly to each other, without the need to go through intermediaries such as banks or credit card companies. New coins are also issued by the network itself, without the need for a central issuing authority such as a bank." class="glossaryLink ">Bitcoin</a> is no different. If you have developed an interest in Bitcoin as an investment, rather than just a way to make payments and avoid feeding the sins of the banking industry, you should therefore consider looking at ways to make a prifit from a falling bitcoin price as well as increases in value. Buy and hold (or hodl as many bitcoiners say) can be good sometimes, but it can’t be the best option 100% of the time – sometimes you will need to ‘go short’ – effectively betting on the price going down.</p><p><strong><em>See Also: <a title="How To Make Money Trading Bitcoin" href="http://cryptorials.io/how-to-make-money-trading-bitcoin/">How To Make a Profit Trading Bitcoin</a></em></strong></p><p>There are various different ways that you can ‘go short’. Of course if you own a large stash of BTC then you can just sell a few in the hope of buying them back later at a cheaper price. This is the easiest way, but there are other methods that can potentially give you a larger profit – although be warned that this usually means they will also give you a bigger loss if you are wrong and the price goes up.</p><p>Here are three of the most popular answers to the question – how to short bitcoin?</p><h3>1. Margin Trading at Bitfinex</h3><p>Margin trading means that you borrow money in order to make a trade. For example, if you have 1 bitcoin you would like to use to bet on the price going down, you may be able to use that 1 BTC to borrow 10 btc at 1:10 leverage. This means you will either make 10 times the profit or 10 times the loss.</p><p>Check out the video below for a super simply guide to shorting btc using <a href="http://bitfinex.com/" target="_blank">Bitfinex</a></p><p></span></p><h3>2. Sell Bitcoin Futures</h3><p>A futures contract gives its buyer the right to purchase a currency or commodity at a fixed price at some specified date in the future. A person buying this contract is therefore betting that the price will go up, meaning that when their contract expires they can buy at below market price and sell immediately for a profit. The person selling the contract profits if the price goes down, because when the contract expires the other party will have to buy their coins from them at above market price. If you already own Bitcoin this can be a good alternative to ‘hedge your bets’ and profit from a downturn in price, without having to actually sell your coins – because if your coins are bought from you at above market price you can just buy them back on the open market and take the difference as your profit.</p><p>You can sell futures contracts at <a href="https://orderbook.net/" target="_blank">OrderBook.net</a></p><h3>3. Bitcoin Options Contracts</h3><p>Options are another financial derivative which can be used to profit on both rises and falls in price. You can use options to place a bet that the value of Bitcoin will be higher or lower than a particular value at a certain point in the future (say after 1 day, or 1 week), or that the value will or won’t hit a certain level above or below its current price within a particular time period.</p><p>You can purchase options contracts or create your own and pay with BTC through services such as <a href="http://btcoracle.com" target="_blank">BTC Oracle</a></p><p>Another options service with 5 different order types and a kind of practice account set-up for learning how to use them is <a href="https://gryfx.com/" target="_blank">Gryfx</a></p><h3>4. Binary Options</h3><p>Binary options are a simplified type of options contract, usually aimed at day traders. You simply bet that the price will be higher (in which case you are buying a ‘call’ option) or lower (a ‘put’ option) than its current value at a specified point in the future – usually measured in hours with the end of that day as the limit. This fill give you a fixed profit, usually around 40-80%, if you are correct, but you will lose everything if you are incorrect. This is a ery high risk high return method which often appeals to gamblers.</p><p>You can buy Binary options for BTC at<a href="http://www.satoshioption.com/" target="_blank"> Satoshi Options</a> or for USD at <a href="http://www.anyoption.com/binary-options-trading" target="_blank">AnyOption</a></p><h3>5. Electronically Traded Funds (ETFs)</h3><p>ETFs are funds that track the price of a currency, commodity or asset without actually owning any of it. You can use an ETF to go ‘long’ or ‘short’ – depending on whether you think the price will go up or down. ETFs often come with reliable high level leverage (1:10 or even 1:20).</p><p>A popular international ETF fund can be traded through <a href="http://plus500.co.uk/" target="_blank">Pluss500</a>Sebastian Thielnoreply@blogger.com12